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Criminal Law Keyed to Kadish
United States v. Guidant LLC
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*Case Brief Anatomy includes: Brief Prologue, Complete Case Brief, Brief Epilogue
- The Brief Prologue provides necessary case brief introductory information and includes:
- Topic: Identifies the topic of law and where this case fits within your course outline.
- Parties: Identifies the cast of characters involved in the case.
- Procedural Posture & History: Shares the case history with how lower courts have ruled on the matter.
- Case Key Terms, Acts, Doctrines, etc.: A case specific Legal Term Dictionary.
- Case Doctrines, Acts, Statutes, Amendments and Treatises: Identifies and Defines Legal Authority used in this case.
- The Case Brief is the complete case summarized and authored in the traditional Law School I.R.A.C. format. The Pro case brief includes:
- Brief Facts: A Synopsis of the Facts of the case.
- Rule of Law: Identifies the Legal Principle the Court used in deciding the case.
- Facts: What are the factual circumstances that gave rise to the civil or criminal case? What is the relationship of the Parties that are involved in the case. Review the Facts of this case here:
two of the models of implantable defibrillators which Guidant LLC (D) manufactured for people suffering from fast heart rhythms, had defects which could result in sudden cardiac arrest. Guidant (D) however failed to notify the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after it had discovered these defects. This made Guidant (D) to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of making material false statement on reports to the FDA and not notifying the FDA immediately about the defects. A criminal plea agreement of $253,962,251 and a separate criminal forfeiture of $42,079,685 were agreed upon by the Government (P) and Guidant (D). Not included however in the agreement was a term of probation. The agreement was considered by the federal trial court which eventually issued this decision.
- Issue(s): Lists the Questions of Law that are raised by the Facts of the case.
- Holding: Shares the Court's answer to the legal questions raised in the issue.
- Concurring / Dissenting Opinions: Includes valuable concurring or dissenting opinions and their key points.
- Reasoning and Analysis: Identifies the chain of argument(s) which led the judges to rule as they did.
- The Brief Prologue closes the case brief with important forward-looking discussion and includes:
- Policy: Identifies the Policy if any that has been established by the case.
- Court Direction: Shares where the Court went from here for this case.